Maṇḍala Offeringby Yukhok Chatralwa Chöying Rangdrol

OM AH HUNGOne billion universes–a hundred times ten million worlds,Filled with all the wealth of gods and human beings, like the “seven preciousgems”,My bodies, my possessions, and my sources of merit, all together, I offer them intheir entirety, so thatI may be born as a nirmāṇakāya and turn the wheel of Dharma, liberating allbeings!

The highest heaven of great bliss, the realm of “Tukpo Köpa”,Perfect with the five certainties and the maṇḍala of the five buddha families,andInconceivably vast clouds of offerings of every variety of sensual and emotionalstimulants—With this offering, may we enjoy the perfection of the sambhogakāya fields!

Where all appearance and existence are completely pure from the verybeginning—the youthful vase body,Ornamented by the play of dharmatā, unceasing compassion,The realm where all clinging to the perception of kāyas and tiklés is naturallyliberated—With this wisdom offering, may we enjoy the freedom of the dharmakāyareality!

Visualize the field of merit in the sky before you, just as in the practice of takingrefuge. Then clean the maṇḍala base, which is made from precious metal or someother substance, sprinkle it with scented water and bajung, and arrange heaps offlowers, as described in the texts, as a support for your visualization. Alternatively, ifyou are not doing this as a daily practice, it is sufficient simply to imagine.

In any case, the ordinary nirmāṇakāya maṇḍala consists of one hundred times tenmillion worlds each of which has four continents, Mount Meru, and the realms of thegods. This great buddhafield is filled with all the abundant riches of gods and men,including the seven precious emblems of royalty and so on. Offer especially yourown body, possessions and virtues, in their entirety and without hesitation. Andthink to yourself: “May I obtain nirmāṇakāya sovereignty, and, through turning thewheel of Dharma, lead beings along the path to liberation and omniscience.”

Then for the extraordinary sambhogakāya maṇḍala, in the space above, considerthat the piles represent the five buddha families, complete with the five certainties, inthe blissful paradise of Akaniṣṭha-Ghanavyūha, where countless goddesses, such as

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the goddess of beauty and the rest, offer vast unimaginable clouds of offerings tostimulate the senses. Think: “Through this vast and boundless offering, may weexperience the sambhogakāya realms!”

In the sphere above is the special dharmakāya maṇḍala. The naturally arisingwisdom of the way things are has always been present as mind’s very nature as the‘youthful vase body’. Upon the ground of this youthful vase body, the utter purity ofall that appears and exists, arrange piles to represent the appearances of pure realms,deities and palaces, purified entirely of any clinging to kāyas and tiklés, and arisingas ornaments of the display of reality itself, unceasing compassionate energy and themanifestation of clear light. Think: “Through this offering, may we enjoy the realmof the dharmakāya Samantabhadra!”

If you do the practice in brief, you can recite the verse of the seven point maṇḍala:“The ground is purified with scented water and strewn with flowers…etc.”1 Althoughthis is the nirmāṇakāya maṇḍala, it is said that since the nirmāṇakāya is of the natureof the three kayas, this can also be considered a three kaya maṇḍala. Therefore, it issaid, it is perfectly sufficient to offer the maṇḍala in this way alone.

Moreover, there are other traditions of explanation, according to which the cosmosof a billion worlds, the Saha world system, is offered to the deities of thenirmāṇakāya. Then, the inner maṇḍala of one’s own body is offered to the deities ofthe sambhogakāya. For this, the skin is considered to be the universal golden ground,the blood the sprinkling of perfumed water, the four limbs the four continents, theother parts of the body the subcontinents, the two eyes the sun and moon, and theother objects of the senses the offering goddesses. Finally the secret dharmakāyamaṇḍala, in which piles representing the four visions of spontaneous presence arearranged upon the original ground of primordial purity, is offered to the deities of thedharmakāya. Thus, since the various forms of maṇḍala offering that appear in theAncient Tradition are explained clearly in the relevant texts of the original canonicalteachings (kama) and the revelations (terma), you should consult these sources.

In addition, there is the ‘thirty-seven point maṇḍala offering’ composed by ChögyalPhakpa, the Sakyapa Protector of Beings, which is widely renowned. The masterBuddhaguhya taught a thirteen point maṇḍala offering according to the tradition ofyoga tantra, which consists of Mount Meru, the four continents and the [eight]subcontinents. The master Jetari2 described a seventeen point offering, in which thesun and moon, and the parasol and victory banner are added to the four continents,eight subcontinents and Mount Meru. The master Mañjuśrīikīrti spoke of a twenty-three point offering, in which the seven emblems of royalty, the vase of treasure andthe sun and moon are offered in addition to Mount Meru and the continents andsubcontinents. The tradition of the Kālacakra Tantra includes a twenty-five pointmaṇḍala which, in addition to these twenty-three, features [the planets] Rahu andKetu.

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In the thirteen point maṇḍala the piles for the sun and moon are omitted. In theseventeen point version the parasol and victory banner appear in the south andnorth. In the twenty-three point version the seven emblems of royalty and thetreasure vase are added in the cardinal and intermediate directions, and the sun andmoon appear in the east and west. In the twenty-five point version the planets Rahuand Ketu are added in the south and north. This is how it is explained.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, Rigpa Translations, 2006 (revised 2012). Thanks to Ringu TulkuRinpoche for his clarifications.

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1. The ground is purified with scented water and strewn with flowersIt is adorned with Sumeru, the king of mountains, the four quarters of theuniverse, and the sun and the moon;Thinking of it as the blessed buddha-fields, I offer it.By virtue of this offering, may all beings here and now attain the happiness ofthat pure land!TRAM GURU RATNA MAṆḌALA PUJA MEGHA SAMUDRA SAPARAṆASAMAYE ĀḤ HŪṂ ↩

2. ་ཏ་་ད་ལས་མ་པར་ལ་བ་. ↩

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